


We are family

by scatteredconstellations



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Angst and Fluff, Bullying, David and Patrick being dads, Hurt/Comfort, Husbands, Judaism, Kids, M/M, Mostly really soft, Sibling Bonding, baby talk, but he likes David more, david being soft, mentions of child abuse, patrick likes kids, protective! david
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:35:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24205261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scatteredconstellations/pseuds/scatteredconstellations
Summary: Patrick thought he was ok with not having kids...until he wasn’t. David wasn’t sure he ever wanted kids...until he did. This is their journey.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 28
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know I guess I just like kid fics and I’m kind of proud of this one. I really don’t know if david would ever want kids but for the sake of this let’s just say he changes his mind

David wasn’t the biggest fan of kids. It was a fairly well known fact and Patrick was okay with it. David asked Patrick about kids before they got married and Patrick said he was ok if they didn’t have kids. They had cuddled afterwards and David felt a weight lifted off his chest. He had been halfway convinced Patrick would say this was non negotiable and break up with him. 

Patrick liked kids, and he was good with them. David had seen him with all his cousins and it was always adorable. But David was happy with kids from afar instead of in their lives. David thought Patrick was perfectly ok with it too. It was a bunch of small things. Well actually every time Patrick saw a baby he felt a pull in his chest. He didn’t want to fight with David and he wanted to respect his choice, but he didn’t think this feeling was going to stop. 

That night in bed Patrick was uncharacteristically quiet. David stared at the wall wondering if he should say something.  
“What’s up?” He asked turning to face his husband  
“Nothing” Patrick shrugged but David knew something was up  
“Do you remember when we talked about kids before we got married?” Patrick asked  
“Yeah” David said “I thought we figured this out already”

“I know. I know I said I would be ok if we didn’t have kids but now I don’t know” Patrick choked out  
“I don’t want to try to change anything about you and I wish I was ok but- every time I see kids I feel something and I wish I didn’t but Im pretty sure I want to have a kid and David, I don’t know what to do” tears glistened in Patrick’s eyes and David leaned forward and kissed his neck. 

“I can’t promise you I’ll ever want to have kids. But I think I’ve changed a lot so it doesn’t seem like the most impossible thing. Maybe I’ll change my mind or maybe I won’t. A lots kind of unsure right now.” David said. Patrick seemed satisfied with this response and pulled David towards him. The want in his chest hadn’t gotten unbearable yet.  
“Ok” patrick said  
“Ok?” David said uncertainly “Yes David it’s ok. I love you no matter what”

They were around kids a lot more after that because Patrick’s sister had a baby. Her name was Cece and David could admit that she was very cute. They ended up baby sitting her once she was a year old, and kept babysitting her a lot after that. Patrick loved her which was good for his sister, Reid because she got a break. 

Reid had roped them into babysitting again and now Patrick was bouncing Cece on his knee. David admitted that he liked watching Patrick with babies. His face was all soft and full of love and he smiled every time a baby laughed at him. Patrick was bouncing cece on his lap “ring around the rosy a pocket full of posies-“  


“Aren’t you full of sunshine?” Patrick teased “but can you hold her I have to go to the bathroom?” He pushed Cece at him and ran out of the room without waiting for an answer. David thought he was a lot better with babies now than he was a couple years ago, probably because now he knew how to hold them. Cece was cuddled against his chest and he smiled at her. 

“Do you like my sweater?” He asked because she was grasping it “you should it’s cashmere. But it is very soft right?” Patrick thought one of the best things about David with babies was that he basically talked to them like adults. He came back from the bathroom and watched his husband with his niece from the doorway. 

“You know you are pretty cute Cece” David said looking at her wide eyes “although your moms fashion sense isn’t the best. Don’t worry I’ll take you shopping when you’re old enough” Patrick thought about what his sister would do if they gave back her child with a goth makeover and stepped into the room.  
“Having fun?” He asked jumping on the couch and scooting towards David.  
“Kind of. Cece’s not a very good conversationalist” 

Patrick doesn’t bring up babies for two more years. He doesn’t want to make David upset, so he’d taken to looking through adoption agencies to fill the want in his chest. One evening David came into the living room holding his computer. “What is this?” He questions and shows Patrick a page he had opened featuring a smiling baby. Shit.

“David-“  
“No you SAID you weren’t going to rush me. Or pressure me” David exclaimed  
“Well I didn’t SAY anything to you” Patrick countered  
“Yeah because looking at babies behind my back is so much better!”  
“I wasn’t like looking at babies to GET a baby I was just looking at them!” Patrick exclaimed  
“Nobody just looks at babies for fun Patrick”  
“Well I do. I thought it would like help but I don’t know if it did”  
David stared at him “what are we going to do?” Patrick asked 

“Do you think you’ll ever like get over it?” David asked  
“David I’m TRYING to get over it” Patrick yelled  
“Is this too big of a hurdle for us to get over?” David asked quietly his voice breaking at the end. “David”Patrick could tell his eyes were filling with tears and he wanted to run to David and tell him how wrong he was. He had finally reached his husbands hand when David wrenched it away from his grasp. “David this isn’t too big I promise we can work through this” he says earnestly “What about in ten years?” David says turning back around “what about in twenty? I know how this is going to end and it’s going to be with you resenting me!” Tears were spilling down his face now too. “I’m never going to hate you” Patrick says because he could never imagine hating David Rose. 

“I-I’m going to Stevie’s ok?” David said exhaling shakily  
“David please don’t go” Patrick said desperately  
“I have to go alright?” David said softly. He grabbed Patrick’s hand and squeezed it. “I’ll be back ok?” He said tearfully and then he shut the door. 

That night Stevie held David while he cried and insisted that it was his fault.  
“You guys can get through this” she insisted and she believed it with her whole heart.  
“I don’t want to make his upset. I want him to attain all of his dreams. I don’t want to be the one that holds him back from having kids” David said through husband tears

“He’s achieved so much more than he thought he would” Stevie said because she had talked to him and she knew. She knew Patrick had been pretty sure at one point that he would never find love and now here he was. “I know he’s so proud of everything you’ve done together” Stevie said “you’ve literally given him so much and I’ve seen you together and he loves you SO MUCH it’s disgusting. But when Patrick says he’s never going to leave you you best believe he’s serious David because I don’t think Patrick could handle being with out you” br /> David let out a short laugh “was this a dumb argument?” He asked Stevie Stevie rolled her eyes “I think it’s going to take a lot to get Patrick to leave you” she said “like maybe you having a foot fetish” she added. David glared at her “I just know that basically nothing is going to get rid of him so this definitely isn’t going to be the deal breaker” “What you’re saying makes sense...I just don’t want to talk to him” David admitted “I know but you have to” Stevie said “it’ll probably feel good to get all your feelings out” “Ew” David said leaning into her shoulder “Yeah never mind maybe keep all your feelings in no one needs them anyway” Stevie quipped 

The next morning David goes back to their house. He’s nervous about how Patrick is going to react but forces himself to keep going. He opens the door to 3 beer bottles on their kitchen table. He didn’t see Patrick anywhere as he shut the door quietly. David vaguely wondered if this was a mistake and went to leave when he heard a “David?” From behind him

He turned around to see a sheepish looking Patrick in front of him. He was wearing boxers and a T-shirt and David notices the bags under his eyes and how red they are.  
“Hi..” David said quietly  
“Hi” Patrick says “can we sit?” He asked and David nods and follows him to the couch. David noticed the space they leave between each other and feels an ache in his chest. 

“David I’m sorry” Patrick says looking at him with doe eyes. “I put really big expectations on you and I knew that’s not something you wanted and I didn’t want to pressure you so I’m really sorry” “I’m sorry too” David says “I know this is mostly my fault. I just want you to be happy and I-“ he swallowed the lump in his throat “I don’t want to feel like I’m the one that’s keeping you from being happy”  
“You ARE making me happy” Patrick said grabbing his hands “I don’t care about having kids as long as I have you. It doesn’t matter”

David laid his head on Patrick’s shoulder, “are you sure?” He asked  
“Yes” Patrick said “uncle Patrick all the way” David laughed and kissed his neck.  
“I love you” David murmured  
“I love you too” Patrick said  
“Look we got over the hurdle?” Patrick said  
“Yeah we’re really good at that ” David added “I think we can get through anything” he said quietly  
“It’s the power of love” Patrick said “Oh my god shut up!” David exclaimed shoving his shoulder “this is why I don’t talk about feelings” he muttered.

David didn’t know if there was an exact moment he thought ‘dang I want a kid’ but if there was one if would be the time he took Cece to the playground. Patrick was supposed to be there but he had a business thing so David was sitting on a bench watching avece climb the rock wall. Every time she got closer to the top she looked back at him smiling like she was looking for him to be proud of her and every time she looked back David smiled and waved. 

When she got to the top cece looked at him excitedly and David clapped quietly. Cece laughed and ran towards the slide and David had to admit it was kind of adorable. Some time later cece was ringing the little bells the park had when a little boy came over and tried to ring the bells with her. Cece stared at him curiously for a second and then when he kept ringing the bells she shoved him. 

The little boy fell down on the mulch and started crying and David ran over along with a woman he assumed was the boys mom.  
“Cece that was not ok” David said as the mom tried to help the little boy. Cece leaned sheepishly against the building and David turned her around to face him and kneeled on the ground next to her.  
“We don’t shove ok?” He asked her and cece thought for a second before saying “ok” 

“We share remember? Remember sharing?”  
“Sharing” Cece repeated  
“Can you say sorry to him?” David asked guiding her towards the boy  
“Sawy” Cece said  
“Can you say it’s ok?” The mom asks  
“tis okay” the boy says  
“Ok want to go on the slide?” The mom asks and the boy nods. The mom picks him up and then turns to David.  
“Thank you” she says  
“No problem” David says  
“You’re a good dad” she says and then she leaves 

That sentence repeats in his head for the next day. Actually it’s probably the next week because he can stop thinking about having a kid. He thinks about shaping someone to be a good person and watching them grow. He thinks about teaching them about modern issues so the next generation would be better than his one. He would teach his kids about toxic masculinity and white privilege and that they can wear whatever they want. He thinks to himself that his imaginary kids would be pretty badass. 

The more he thinks about it the more David likes the idea of shaping a young persons life. If he did it he would want to do it right and not like his parents when they were young. He kind of thinks kids are like more complicated tomagachi (not that he would ever tell anyone that out loud). 

The idea rolls around in his head for about a week and a half and he’s still not completely sure about anything but he decides to talk to Patrick about it. That day he gets home and it’s pretty evident that Patrick didn’t have a good day. He had gone to a business meeting the next state over to try and negotiate them into putting Rose apothecary into the shopping center. 

“Was it that bad?” David asked glancing at the beer on the table.  
“No the people were just annoying” Patrick said “they were ‘unsure of our credibility’” he says with air quotes “I have go back to talk to the manager”. David stared at him until Patrick noticed. “What?” He asked turning around to face David. It was weird that he was being this quiet. 

David felt suddenly nervous. He was worried how Patrick would react even though he was pretty sure it would be positive. Patrick watched David wring his hands and got even more nervous.  
“What” he questioned as he watched David fiddle with a ring.  
“Um I’ve been thinking” David said quietly. He felt like he was going to pass out  
“Never a good idea” Patrick said and then smiled slightly and then looked worried when David didn’t laugh 

“What’re you thinking about babe?” Patrick asked  
“Um I think maybe having a baby doesn’t sound like the worst idea?” He said it too quickly and it came out like a question. Patrick started at him blankly, “what?” He asked  
“I kind of like the idea of having a kid” David repeated. Patrick kept staring at him like he wasn’t convinced David was serious. 

“Are you joking?” Patrick asks seriously because that seems like the logical explanation  
“No. No I’m serious” David says his eyes watering “and I don’t know how sure I am or like when cause I’m just getting used to the idea but-“ Patrick jumped up and tackled David with a hug.  
“David” he muttered and David didn’t have to see his face to know he was crying 

“Are you sure?” Patrick asks with wet eyes pulling enough away from him to look at David.  
“Yes” David said “yes I’m sure” he says smiling through his tears  
“David” Patrick says burying into his shoulder again  
“I love you” David says

They decided to try and find a surrogate because it would be faster than adopting. They went through some candidates but so far none of them had seemed right.  
“What if we got Stevie to do it?” Patrick asked one nights  
“Do you think she would?” David asked  
“We might have to bribe her” Patrick said “or beg” he added 

After a lot of begging (and promising her unlimited wine after she was pregnant) Stevie finally agreed. They argued over whose sperm to use. Patrick wanted his but David said his DNA was too crazy. Patrick rolled his eyes but said if he really wanted it than he was ok with it. David was happy with the idea of having mini Patricks in their house. 

On May 5th at 2:30 in the morning they got a call from Stevie.  
“Hello?” Patrick asked rolling over  
“Patrick? Hi I think my water broke” Stevie said  
“You think?” Patrick teased  
“Yeah I’m pretty sure. James is going to take me to the hospital so you all should meet me there ok?” Stevie asked  
“Ok see you there” Patrick said “operation baby” he added excitedly before hanging up 

“David” he said rolling over to poke his husband  
“What?” David asks sleepily  
“Stevie’s in labor” he says and David sits up  
“What?” He asks  
“Stevie’s in labor” he says again  
“Oh my gosh!” David exclaims he kisses Patrick quickly before bouncing out of bed to put clothes on. 

Patrick grabs the baby bag and they go to car.  
“I’m gonna have bags under my eyes” David said putting cream under his eyes in the passenger seat  
“David the baby’s not going to care if you have bags under your eyes” Patrick said. They pulled into the hospital and Patrick reached across the middle counsel and grabbed his hand.  
“Are you ready?” Patrick asked 

Three hours later they had a daughter. Stevie was happy for them but said she was going to kill them. Neither of them had stopped crying. The first time David held their daughter he knew he made the right decision. He already loved her so much. He held her against his chest and Patrick came next to him and kissed him on he cheek. 

“I love her” David said  
“Me too” Patrick said  
“Do you have a name?” Stevie asked  
They looked at each other and nodded. And Sadie Carter Brewer-Rose was born.


	2. Gwen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patrick had almost forgotten they were on the foster care list. Then one day they get a call.
> 
> Or the story of their 2nd kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **this chapter has very brief mentions of abuse, it shouldn’t be a problem but stay safe

It took a little adjustment for them to get used to having a baby. It took a lot of trial and error to figure it out but eventually they were getting there. David was worried before about whether he would be connected to her and love her but he soon figured out that was stupid of him to even think. Because he loved their baby more than anything. He would even sometimes get up with her in the middle of the night, with only mild complaining, which pleasantly surprised Patrick. 

They didn’t really talk about having more kids. David knew Patrick didn’t want Sadie to be an only child because although he had a good childhood he knew it had been lonely for him. Their names were still on the emergency foster care list and right now they hadn’t really had a discussion so Patrick just figured if something happened it happened. 

They watched Sadie become a little person with opinions. She had Stevie’s brown eyes and Patrick’s hair. She was curious and a little quiet when you first met her but talked the ears off of people she was comfortable with. She didn’t complain that much but when she did it was a definite spectacle. She liked to do art and go to the playground and when she went to school her teachers said she picked up things really fast. 

Her quietness made making friends a little hard for her but she did have one best friend, Ellery. She was very protective and once got in trouble for punching a kid who made fun of Ellery. Rose apothecary had expanded to 3 stores and when he thought about it for too long David was almost overwhelmed with the surprising successes they’ve had. 

One day David was at the store trying to land a contract with a goat milk soap lady and Patrick was home with Sadie when he got a call from a number he didn’t recognize.  
“Hello?” He asked  
“Hi is this the brewer-roses?” A woman asked  
“Yes” Patrick said getting more confused by the second 

“Hi I’m Mandy from CPS. You’re on our list. We have a 4 year old girl who needs somewhere to stay for a little while and we were wondering if you could take her” Patrick stared at the phone  
“Um..I’m going to have to ask my husband can I call you back?”  
“Sure” Mandy said 

“Hello?”  
“Hey babe what’s up?” David asked Patrick could tell he was surprised Patrick was calling him  
“Um so we’re still on the CPS’s list and this lady called me. She said they had a four year old that needed somewhere to stay” Patrick said. There was brief silence over the phone.  
“Are you doing puppy dog eyes over the phone” David asked pretending to be annoyed 

“Um no” Patrick said unconvincingly “ok maybe. David I really think we should help this girl” there was a pause  
“Ok fine” David huffed “I’m coming back. I’ll text Stevie to ask her to take Sadie”  
“Ok” Patrick said. He hung up the phone smiling 

Mandy told Patrick the girl, Gwen had been roughed up a bit and was in the hospital with a broken arm.  
“So what do we know about this girl?” David questioned in the car  
“Um her name’s Gwen” Patrick says “her step dad was her primary caregiver but he wasn’t the greatest so they removed her from his care and she’s a little beat up” as he says it his heart clenches for this little girl they don’t know yet. 

“Jesus” David muttered “someone beat up a four year old?”  
“Yeah” Patrick said quietly “they said she might not trust us for a little while but as long as we make it clear we’re trying to help her she’ll probably be ok eventually”  
“Aren’t you glad we had to take that class on “difficult children?”” David asked with air quotes 

“So glad” Patrick said quietly. There was a pause “I just want to help her David” he said his eyes watering slightly  
“I know. I do too” David said, putting his hand on top of his husband’s on the steering wheel. 

They get to the hospital and are led to the back by Mandy. They walk into the room where a tiny girl is laying in a giant bed with an IV and other assorted wires on her body and a large white cast on her arm. David notices her cute little cornrows and how she’s wearing a shirt that’s probably 5 sizes too big for her. Then he sees the bruise under her eye. Gwen eyes then warily and clutches the stuffed elephant next to them. 

“This is Patrick and David” Mandy says quietly “you’re going to stay with them for a little while once you leave the hospital ok?”  
Patrick takes a step closer to the bed and the girl flinches a little. David wants to cry.  
“Hi, I'm Patrick,” his husband says quietly, crouching down next to Gwen.  
“I like your elephant. Does he have a name?” Patrick waits as Gwen looks from Patrick to Mandy back to Patrick. 

“Charlie” she says quietly. Patrick smiles at her.  
“That’s a very good name,” he says seriously. Gwen smiles a little. She’s in the hospital for a day and a half before they take her home.  
“We have another daughter, Sadie,” Patrick tells her in the car. Gwen nods and David thinks she’s the most serious 4 year old he’s ever met. 

On the way back Patrick drops her off at the store with David and goes to pick up Sadie from Alexis’. David is determined to get her clothes that fit because she brought practically nothing with her. They go to the clothes aisle and Gwen stares at him uncertainty.  
“We’re going to get you some clothes ok?” He asks  
She just stares at him. She looks slightly confused and overwhelmed and David guesses she’s not used to getting to pick out clothes. 

“Do you like this one?” He asks, pulling out a purple shirt. She shakes her head and he keeps going until he reaches a yellow shirt.  
“That one” she says quietly, seriously  
“You like this one?” David asks. Gwen nods  
“Ok” David says  
They get a purple shirt and some cute ruffle shirts and little leggings. He also gets a dress with an attached tutu because Gwen kept touching the tutu longingly. 

The first couple of months she doesn’t talk much. Sometimes if they move too fast she flinches and it makes David’s heart break. She started having night terrors a couple months in and they alternate staying with her at night. Davids staying with her tonight. She had fallen asleep but started whimpering and thrashing in her bed jolting David out of his half awake state. 

David shakes her awake and she jolts when she opens her eyes. Her body's shaking and silent tears are running down her face.  
“Hey it’s ok” David says followed by “can I hug you?” Gwen nods. David moves towards her and wraps his arms around her and she all but collapses into him. Her tears soak his shirt and he’s glad he’s wearing one of Patrick’s old shirts. 

He rubs circles on her back.  
“You’re ok” he whispers “no ones going to hurt you anymore. Not as long as I'm here” Davids not sure if she's listening but eventually her tears subside and he looks at her sleeping face. He holds her until he eventually dozes off too. 

Later that night Patrick walks into the room to see why David hadn’t come back to their room yet. He sees his husband holding the little girl, Both of them fast asleep. He smiles softly because at how cute this is, takes a picture for future use, kisses both of them on the cheek, and goes back to their bedroom.  
•••  
Gwen’s been with them almost a year. Shes more outgoing now and loves to cuddle. Sadie’s very protective of her as well and likes to paint her toenails. David has probably watched at least 200 videos on how to do black hair because hes determined he's going to do it right. Sometimes she still cries at night and ends up jumping into their bed. David remembers a handful of times when he was barely awake and could hear Patrick quietly singing “You are my sunshine” to her. 

She ends up calling Patrick dad first. She’s been there a year and a half and had fallen down when Sadie was trying to teach her how to rollerblade. Patrick is cleaning the cuts and trying to simultaneously wipe her tears.  
“Thanks papa” she said and Patrick looked up suddenly, wide eyed. He’s guessing she probably heard it from Sadie and felt like he was going to cry.

Gwen was looking at him wide eyed now too.  
“Sorry” she winced, like maybe he was going to be mad at her for this. At this moment Patrick again realized that Gwen was a lot more mature then most 5 year olds. Then he realized it was probably because she was forced to grow up fast.

“Baby I’m not mad” he says pulling her towards him “did you think I was going to be mad?” He questions  
Gwen nods looking down.  
“Hey” he says gently lifting her chin up. He notices her brown eyes are filled with tears and he probably looks the same.  
“I’m glad that you feel safe with us ok?” He asks “I know David feels the same way. I think we feel like you were always meant to be with us” he says. Gwen is still crying and he wonders if he’s saying the wrong thing.

“Is that ok?” He asks and Gwen nods, still crying. She falls into him wrapping her arms around him. She finally looks up at him.  
“Normally when I get attached to people they send me back” she says whisper quiet. Patrick lets out a startled noise that he thinks scares her.  
“We’re not going to send you back ok?” He asks “you belong with us” he adds  
“Thank you” Gwen says quietly and he drops a kiss to the top of her head.

He doesn’t get a chance to talk to David until they put the kids to sleep.  
“David” he says when they’re getting undressed  
“Yes?” David asks  
“Gwen called me papa today” he says quietly and he feels like he’s tearing up again  
“What?” David exclaims jumping across the bed. He stands in front of his and wipes the tear off his cheek looking soft. Patrick nods wordlessly and David wraps him in a hug.

“She apologized after because she thought we were going to send her back” Patrick says and David pulls away sharply  
“What?”  
“Yeah” Patrick said with a laugh that sounded more like a sob “and I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to you first but I’m pretty sure you feel the same way so I told her she belonged with us” he says quietly. He winces like he’s waiting for the pushback but David is still looking at him softly. 

“She does” David whispers into the crook of his neck “god she does. I feel like she’s our kid you know?” He asks pulling away and Patrick nods  
“I think she is our kid” Patrick says  
“Ok” David says, sitting down. He seems to think for a couple seconds “ok do you want to ask her if it’s ok if we adopt her?” He asks uncertaintly. Patrick sits next to him and drops a kiss on his shoulder.  
“I would love that” he says  
•••  
Four Months later they’re on their way to the courthouse. Patrick’s wearing the suit jacket from their first date which is already making David have a lot of feelings. Sadie’s wearing a pink dress her reddish hair half up in two tiny braids. Gwen is wearing a navy blue dress with multi colored flowers on it. David finally managed to braid her hair right this morning and she had since refused to let go of his hand. Patrick is holding his other hand and holding Sadie’s hand in the other and they all walk into the courtroom. 

The lady from the hospital is in the courtroom.  
“Ok we have all the signatures” the judge says ruffling a piece of paper.  
He clears his throat “From now on Gwen is Gwen Angelique Brewer-Rose and officially part of the Brewer-Rose family” Sadie cheers. David lets out a half laugh half sob and looks over at Patrick who’s already crying. Next to him Gwen squeezes his hand and he squeezes back grinning. 

They go home and eat ice cream for dinner. His girls dance around and he dances with his husband who makes fun of his dance moves while he smiles at him. David takes it all in and wants to cry because he can’t believe this is his life. He didn’t know when his life got so disgustingly domestic, and even more surprising he liked it. He looked at Patrick who he was swaying with, and Sadie who was spinning Gwen and doesn’t understand how he got this lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y’all want to send me prompts that would be great :)


	3. DNA doesn’t make a family...love does

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadie’s mostly curious when a little girl comes to stay with them. She also just wants to help her be happy.
> 
> This is just sibling bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *trigger warning* brief mentions of child abuse but nothing major

Sadie was mostly curious when a little girl started staying with them. Her papa told her she just needed somewhere to stay and it might take her a little while to warm up to them because she used to live in a bad place. Gwen is very quiet the first months she’s there. Her dads try to ask her questions about how she is and what she likes but she mostly just looks at them questioningly. By the fourth month she starts answering the questions shyly with less than four words. 

Sadie introduces her to coloring which she seems to like a lot. She starts by coloring in princesses and then she draws little people, flowers and dogs.  
“I like your dog” Sadie tells her and Gwen beams  
“Do you know how to draw a bunny?” She questions  
“Maybe” Sadie says “but not that well”  
“Ok. Show me?” She questions handing Sadie the pen  
“Ok so first draw a circle..”  
“Yeah that’s good” Sadie says when Gwen finishes her rabbit 

Sadie knows Gwen cries at night. Her papa says it’s because she has nightmares about where she used to live. She knows one of her dads normally stays with her at night to calm her down. She thinks about how she can make her feel better and finally settles on giving Gwen her stuffed bunny.  
“Hi I have something for you” she says going into Gwen’s room one night. Gwen looks at her curiously from where she’s tucked in.  
She sits on the bed and pulls out a pink stuffed bunny from behind her back. 

“You can sleep with my bunny so you won’t get scared at night” she says handing Gwen the stuffed animal.  
“Thank you,” Gwen says, softly playing with the bunny’s ears. That night David stays in her room and for the first time she sleeps through the night. 

Gwen’s been there for six months when her dads have to leave to go to a business conference in elmdale. They’re both reluctant to go even though it’s only one day, debating whether one of them should go, or if they should go at all, but eventually they decide it's probably better if they're both there. Aunt Stevie’s watching them the one day they’re gone and she looks nervous when she comes over. Sadie doesn’t know why because she thinks Aunt Stevie’s good at watching them. David leaves her a list and tells her what to do if Gwen starts crying when they think Sadie’s not listening. 

“You can always call us” Patrick says and Stevie nods nervously.  
“Ok you’ll be fine. Thanks for doing it” David says.  
“Ok we’re leaving!” David says. He hugs both of them and then they all wave as their car drives away.

They play Sorry (Gwen wins) and color. Aunt Stevie lets them watch Frozen and eat ice cream.  
“Ok let’s go get ready for bed” she says and they go upstairs and get ready. Aunt Stevie reads her a book and kisses her head and then goes back to Gwen’s room to stay until she goes to sleep.  
Stevie really hopes Gwen will be ok because she doesn’t know how to deal with crying children.

She must’ve dozed off in the chair which surprises her because god David this chair is so uncomfortable. She wakes up to whimpering which jolts her awake. She looks over at Gwen who’s thrashing and making little crying noises.  
“Hey,” Stevie says gently, shaking her until she wakes up. When Gwen wakes up she sits up fast and looks around like she doesn’t know where she is. She seems to calm down when she catches sight of Stevie.

“Do you want to sit on my lap?” Stevie questions because that’s what David said she likes. Gwen nods and then she’s sitting on her lap while Stevie rocks in the rocking chair. Gwen’s leaning against her and her crying seems to have been reduced to sniffling when Sadie walks through the door. 

“Is she ok?” Sadie questions  
“I think so. You can go back to sleep” Stevie suggests quietly  
“Do you want me to paint your nails?” Sadie asks and Stevie is about to protest when Sadie whispers “she likes when I do that” to her. Gwen reluctantly gets off Stevie’s lap and Sadie brings a box of nail polish into the room.  
“What color do you want?” Sadie questions. Gwen looks through the box and eventually pulls out a sunshiney yellow. 

Sadie paints her fingernails while Gwen watches happily and Stevie has to admit that she does look more relaxed when Sadie’s done.

Gwen’s been there a year and Patrick’s pretty confident both his girls love each other. They don’t really talk about it but Gwen wants to do everything Sadie does and Sadie doesn’t seem to mind teaching her things. It’s around the year and a half mark when they go into Sadie’s room to ask her how she feels about them asking Gwen if they can adopt her. 

Patrick leads David into the room. He knows his husband's nervous because he doesn’t know what he’s going to do if Sadie doesn’t want Gwen to be a part of their family (Patrick doesn’t think that’s going to be a problem). But they’re both very attached to her and don’t want to send her to live with someone else.  
“Hey Bug” Patrick says sitting on the bed “we’ve been thinking...and we want to ask how you would feel if we adopted Gwen?” He questions and David squeezes his hand harder.

“Then can she really be my sister?” Sadie asks quietly  
“Yeah than she would be your sister” David says  
“Ok” Sadie says brightly “then she can stay with us forever and not be scared anymore right?” She asks  
“We hope so” Patrick says faintly  
“I want her to stay with us” Sadie says  
“We do too” David says “we’re going to talk to her about it ok?” He asks and then they both kiss her head and leave before someone starts crying.

“That was...like the best response we could’ve gotten” David breaths  
“I know” Patrick says kissing his shoulder  
“She’s a mature kid” he says  
“I’m proud of her” David admits with watery eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was short but I think it’s cute sooo...


	4. I’m not going to kill her!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexis watches Sadie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this was going to be in order but now it’s not because in this one Sadie’s 2

“David I don’t know what you’re so worried about” Alexis says. They’re dropping Sadie off at her house because it’s their anniversary and they’re going to the cafe.   
“I’m worried about you killing our child” David says  
“Alexis isn’t going to kill her” Patrick stresses from behind him “probably” he says as he puts Sadie down. The two year old looks at him confusedly   
“Geez button. I promise I won’t kill your child okay?” She says to David 

“Ok sayds dad and papa are going to go to dinner so you’re going to have fun with aunt Alexis and Uncle Ted ok?” David says   
“Dada no!” Sadie says reaching up for him. Alexis picks her up instead and starts bouncing her on her hip   
“It’s ok babe we’re going to have so much fun!!” Alexis tells her niece “leave” she mouths to her brother   
“Ok bye!” David calls unable to control himself as Patrick drags him out the door

Sadie’s upset for a little when they leave but she doesn’t stay upset for long. As soon as Alexis gives her markers she’s happily coloring princess pictures on their kitchen table. Once she’s done with that Ted picks her up and puts her on the couch while they watch Tangled. Ted sings along, because he somehow knows all the words, and Alexis pretends it’s not incredibly endearing. 

The movie’s barely ending when Ted gets a call from work.   
“Ms. Anderson’s dog is having a ruff time and I have to go” he informs them handing Sadie to Alexis  
“What am I supposed to do with her?” Alexis whispers to him as he gets up   
“I don’t know just do anything! Two year olds are entertained pretty easily” he says and then he’s gone. 

Sadie and Alexis stare at each other, neither of them making a move.   
“Um want to play dress up?” Alexis questions picking Sadie up and whooshing her to their room. Sadie reaches for a blue patterned dress and Alexis puts it on her. She puts on some heels and smiles at Alexis while Alexis smiles right back.   
“You’re so cute” she says booping her on the nose 

Sadie finds the lipstick on the counter and shows it to Alexis.  
“Here” she says, taking it from her pouting niece and going into the bathroom to look for her cheaper brand (she really likes that lipstick ok?).  
“Here ya go” Alexis says giving her the lipstick and Sadie brightens   
“Put it on you?” She asks and she’s also such a cute little button that Alexis agrees.  
Alexis makes a kissy face and Sadie tries to put it on her mouth with intense concentration. 

Alexis looks in the mirror to find lipstick smeared around her mouth and in a line from her nose to her mouth   
“Mmm” Alexis says trying to hide her alarm  
“Can I put it on you?” She asks. Sadie nods  
“Do this,” Alexis says, making a pouty face. Sadie copies her and she puts the lipstick on. Sadie looks delighted when she shows her in the mirror. 

In the next hour she lets Sadie put more makeup on her face until she now looks like an abstract painting. It’s 8:30 and Patrick and David are supposed to be back (but they're not). Sadie’s falling asleep on her lap so she moves her to the sofa where she leans against her and easily falls asleep.   
• • •  
In their defense, David’s not used to having alone time with his husband. He doesn’t spend a lot of time eating and does spend a lot of time making heart eyes at his husband because he’s wearing a sweater and looks frankly adorable. 

“What?” Patrick asks when he sees David staring at him and not eating his pizza  
“You’re just cute,” David said and Patrick blushes. David rolls his eyes because he can’t believe he can make his husband BLUSH (he also not so secretly loves it). They end up making out in the car for an embarrassingly long time until Patrick pulls away.  
“Shit we’re late,” he says, checking his phone. David makes a whimpering noise and Patrick smiles, leaning in to give him a quick peck before turning the car on.

“I hope she hasn’t killed her” David says when they get to Alexis and Ted’s house   
“I think she can do it” Patrick says “or that’s what I’ve been telling myself” he adds   
They pause in front of the door for a second, bracing for the worst. David opens the door to...quiet. It almost makes him even more suspicious. He walks into the house looking around until...he grabs Patrick’s arm indicating to where their daughter and his sister are asleep together.

Alexis has make up all over her face and is flopped against the back of the couch. Sadie’s asleep against her and has makeup on her face, but in the right places.   
“I can’t believe she let her do that” David hisses indicating to Alexis. Patrick nods but he’s not actually that surprised, he can tell Alexis loves Sadie.   
“Hey” David whispers gently shaking her awake  
“Hi” Alexis says and David is a little startled because he expected an angrier response

“Hey S” Alexis says softly, shaking Sadie awake. Sadie wakes up and looks confused until she catches sight of David.   
“Dada!” She exclaims reaching towards him.   
“I see aunt Alexis put lipstick on you” David says   
“Yeah!” Sadie exclaims “and I did hers” she says   
“Yeah I can tell” David says.  
“Thank you for watching her” Patrick says   
“Of course” Alexis says 

“Ok say goodbye to Aunt Alexis” David says scooping her up   
“No!” Sadie says reaching back towards Alexis   
“Hey” Alexis says softly when David hands Sadie back to her   
“I want to stay here” Sadie says burying her head in Alexis’ sweater   
“I know but you can always come back okay? I’ll always be here to play with you ok?” Alexis asks   
Sadie looks up at her, “Ok” she says finally and lets Patrick take her back. 

“Ok say goodbye now” Patrick prompts  
“Bye!” Sadie says   
David waves and Alexis blows a kiss to her niece and waves at them as they go out the door.


	5. We’ll get through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hello?” He asks  
> “Hello is this David Brewer-rose?” The voice on the other end asks  
> “Yes”  
> “This is St. Anne’s memorial hospital. Your husband’s been in an accident”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if anyone cares about ages but just in case...
> 
> Sadie: 13  
> Gwen: 10

David was sitting at home with Sadie, who had just come home from school. Gwen was coming home an hour later because she was in the school play of The Little Mermaid. He’s sitting on the couch and Sadie’s sitting at the table doing homework when he gets a call. The number is unfamiliar so he hesitates a second before he answers it.

“Hello?” He asks

“Hello is this David Brewer-Rose?” The voice on the other end asks

“Yes..” he says suspiciously

“This is St. Anne’s memorial hospital. Your husbands been in an accident”

“What? What kind of accident?” He asks panically

“He was in a car accident” the lady on the other end says calmly 

“Come on we have to go!” David exclaims pulling Sadie out of her chair and pushing her towards the car.

“What? What happened?” Sadie asks confusedly

“Papa got in a car accident,” David says. He looks in the rear view mirror to meet Sadie’s wide eyes. 

”Is he ok?” She questions 

”I hope so” he says followed by a more convincing, “Yeah of course. He’s going to be ok” that he didn’t believe. David has no idea how he made it to the hospital but before long he was pulling into the hospital parking lot. He and Sadie check into the waiting room and sit in the uncomfortable chairs while David twists his wedding rings nervously.

Eventually a doctor comes out and tells him Patrick is currently in surgery. He had dislocated his hip and fractured 2 ribs. While he's waiting there jiggling his leg while trying not to alarm Sadie he realizes he should probably text everyone else.

**To: Alexis**

Hey Patrick got into a car accident and I’m at the hospital. Gwen should probably be home in an hour. Can you bring her here?

**Omg David what happened? Is he ok??**

He’s in surgery idk but I hope he’ll be es ok

**Ok I’m going to get Gwen be there in a bit**

He glances at Sadie who was studying him nervously and is hit with a wave of unexpected emotion because of how much she looks like Patrick. Her long reddish hair is in a ponytail but its their eyes that are the most similar. She might have Stevie’s eye color but she’s studying him with a mixture of concern and warmth that’s very Patrick. In fact, it’s almost the exact same and now he suddenly wants to cry. He sniffles slightly and she leaned towards him wrapping her arms around his shoulders as David rubs her back. He’s not sure if it’s supposed to be more comforting to him or her.

Eventually Alexis comes to the hospital with Gwen.

“Dad!” She yells running towards him. He scoops her up as she looks at him nervously.

“Is papa ok?” She asks quietly. David nods looking at Alexis

“he should be. He’s in surgery.” Gwen sits down next to Sadie and Sadie grabs her hand. David knows hospitals make her nervous because of her other hospital experiences. David remembers the first time he had seen her. She was tiny in the giant hospital bed and had sad eyes and was so beaten up into made his heart clench. He had wanted to protect her almost instantly. David watches Gwen pick at her nails and sees Sadie put her hand over Gwen’s to stop her. Gwen looks up at her and Sadie smiles and bumps her shoulder with Gwen’s.

Thirty minutes later a doctor comes out and they all looked up anxiously.

“Hi I’m Dr. Stevens. Patrick is awake. He’ll be ok. He's on a lot of painkillers so he might be kind of loopy right now but you can go see him” she says. They all got up and went down the hallway. David, Sadie, and Alexis were in the front but David noticed Gwen hanging back. He went to the back to stand by her and looked at Alexis.

“You guys go back ok?” He whispers to her and Alexis nods and follows Sadie down the hall. Gwen is looking at him uncertainly and wringing her hands. “How are you doing?” David asks her quietly even though he thinks he knows the answer. Gwen looks up at him, her brown eyes glossy.

“Ok” David said, grabbing her hand

“it’s ok” they’re backed against the wall watching doctors go past. Gwen glances down and then over at him.

“You should go see papa” she sniffles

“I’m not going to leave you baby” David reassures her rubbing her arm. Gwen sniffles again and sinks down to the floor.

“Hey” David says, sinking down the wall next to her. “I know hospitals are hard and they’re scary but it's ok” he says earnestly reaching for her hand. Gwen leans into him and he rubs her back

“Nothing is going to happen to you ok? You’re safe” he reassures her. After a couple minutes Gwen’s crying stops and she pulls away from him. She looks at him with wide brown eyes and then looks down, embarrassed.

“How do you feel?” David asks. Gwen looks torn. She picks at her fingernails “I want to see papa” she says determinedly

“Can you hold my hand when we go?” She asks

“Course baby” David says standing up. He grabs Gwen’s hand and pulls her up. They walk down the hallway and his whole family looks up when they walk into the room. David feels immediate relief when he sees his husband (even if he’s severely bandaged and looked slightly banged up)

“Hi!” He exclaims running towards Patrick and dragging Gwen behind him in the process.

“How are you?” David questions rubbing Patrick’s cheek

“I’m better now that you’re here” Patrick says smiling and David wants to laugh because he’s clearly SO high

“Shut up” David says smiling fondly as he leans down to peck his cheek

“I was scared” David admits with another kiss

“I love you”

“I love you too” Patrick drops his hand and reaches his hand towards Gwen

“Hi sweetie” he says grabbing her hand “Hi,” Gwen says and she lets go of David’s hand and jumps into Patrick’s bed. Patrick laughs and wraps his arms around her. Patrick laughs and wrapped his arms around her. He smiles at David and he barely pauses before launching at the bed too and settling next to him. 

Sadie rolls her eyes from the other side of the bed but runs towards them and launches onto the end. David feels his heart swell with love for his family. He curls into Patrick and leaves a kiss between his neck and his shoulder filled with relief that everyones ok. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I swear I have fluff too 
> 
> Also if you want to give me prompts I wouldn’t complain...


	6. Open Mic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen and Patrick have been scheming. They’ve been going in their bedroom and locking the door a suspicious amount. David can’t hear what they’re doing but he does hear faint guitar strumming. He bets they’re learning All Star to troll him. 
> 
> Or Rose Apothecary’s 3rd open mic night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I was writing a completely different chapter and then I wrote this instead so

When Gwen was eight she begged Patrick to teach her how to play the guitar. He had been playing the guitar for them since they were little and they both loved it. After Gwen asked for weeks and weeks Patrick finally agreed. He left work early to go to a pawn shop to try and find a smaller guitar Gwen could play.

“Hey I got Gwen a surprise” Patrick said when he walked in the door. It had been David’s turn to stay at home and he looked up from his laptop when Patrick walked in.

“Oh yeah what?” He questions Patrick pulls the guitar out from behind his back.

David laughs, “are you finally agreeing to teach her how to play the guitar?” He asks

“Yeah. I’m glad someone’s interested in one of my hobbies” he admits “maybe sometime we’ll start a band” he says strumming one chord

“Dear god I sure hope not” David mutters

The next few weeks are slow going. Whenever Gwen has extra time she sits in her room with Patrick and tries to play the guitar. David knows it’s a slow process and he’s glad Gwen’s learning something new but he swears if he hears those three chords any more he might go insane.

About two weeks after she’s started Patrick says Gwen’s learned a song and makes them all sit in the living room and listen to her (to Gwen’s embarrassment). She slowly plays 3 Little Birds and even though there are mediumly long pauses between the chords you can still make out the tune. When she’s done Gwen’s flushes and Patrick is practically beaming as they all clap for her.

“That was really good Gwen” Patrick says “we just have to practice switching between chords” he says patting her shoulder

“That was good Gwen” David adds

Gwen’s 12 and she’s definitely better at guitar. She plays it less because she’s distracted by other things (like soccer, ew) but she still breaks it or sometimes. She can pick up songs pretty fast by watching videos and sometimes if she’s really proud of a song she’s learned she’ll drag Patrick into her room and make him listen to it.

It’s winter and things at the store are a little slow but he knows it’ll pick back up again around the holidays.

“We could have another open mic?” Patrick suggests smiling slightly and David tries to roll his eyes despite being secretly fond of open mic nights.

“I guess” he finally says. It’s probably their third open mic.

That night at dinner Patrick casually suggests that maybe Gwen should play something. Gwen looks slightly scared about the idea. She doesn't really mind being in front of people once she does it but it’s still not her favorite thing.

“I’ll think about it” she says

Gwen and Patrick have been scheming. They’ve been going in their bedroom and locking the door a suspicious amount. David can’t hear what they’re doing but he does hear faint guitar strumming. He bets they’re learning All Star to troll him.

“Are you going to tell me what you and Gwen are doing so secretively?” He questions one night

“You’ll just have to wait and see” Patrick says before kissing him briefly and going to wash his face. They’ve been practicing like that for a week when David cracks. “Hey sayds want to do something?” He asks his daughter who’s currently doing her math homework

“What?” Sadie questions

“Want to go see what Gwen and Papa are doing for me?” He asks. Sadie seems to think about it

“What if I give you ice cream?” He asks because maybe he’s a little desperate Sadie disappears down the hallway and David tries to seem unsuspicious until Patrick emerges smirking.

“David?” He questions

“Hmm? Yes?” David says

“You’re going to have to try harder”

“Ugh why won’t you tell me?” He demands

“Because it's a _surprise_ ” Patrick says

“I hate surprises”

“You say that but maybe you should wait to see what the surprise is before you decide you hate it” Patrick disappears and then reappears a second later

“Also everyone in this house has been sworn to secrecy”

“Ugh!”

The night of the open mic David’s nervous because of the lingering feeling his family’s plotting against him. It feels eerily similar to how he felt before the first open mic and he knows that went ok but he can’t help it. He expresses his worries to Stevie who’s not helpful but says she’ll “definitely be there in case it IS to embarrass you”.

They get ready to leave. David’s wearing a black sweater with little silver stars on it. Patrick’s wearing a blue sweater David’s pretty sure he bought for him. “How do I look?” Patrick questions “Didn’t I buy you that sweater?” David asks

“I think so yeah. It’s soft ok?”

“You look very nice” David admits pulling him in by the collar and kissing him. They’re interrupted by Gwen asking David to fix her hair.

Gwen’s wearing a white turtleneck and a flowy pink skirt he thinks Alexis bought her. He unbraids her hair and puts product in.

“Do you want it up at all?” David questions Gwen shakes her head the curls bouncing

“Ok you need a jacket, it's like 20 degrees,” he says. Sadie wears the striped shirt and jeans she wore to school and they get in the car to leave. They set up the food and a stage in the front. Patrick and Sadie plug in the microphone and they hang up a list of performances. 30 minutes before it started Stevie shuffled in, settling next to David who was working the register. She gave him a wad of cash and he gave her a pile of drink tickets, thankful she was paying for once.

People started coming in and it was a fairly big crowd like most open mics. Eventually Patrick got onstage to welcome everyone.

“Hey how’s it going?” He asked which was met by cheering

“Thank you for coming to the third? Open mic night at Rose Apothecary” there was more cheering

“Thank you” Patrick says

“we’re going to start this off so joining me is my daughter, Gwen and Twyla” Gwen and Twyla get onstage, Twyla standing in front of the second microphone.

“Anyways here’s wonderwall” Patrick says into the microphone and David swears he smirks at him before they start playing. “I knew it” David says while Sadie laughs to his left.

_I said maybe_

_You’re gonna be the one that saves me_

_And after all_

_You’re my wonderwall_

The only redeeming quality of this performance was he had to admit Patrick and Twyla sounded good together. The song ends and Patrick introduces the next act (bob) before hopping off the stage. He walked smugly over to David who rolled his eyes at him fondly.

“I knew it” he says as Patrick kisses his cheek

“We have another performance” he whispers

“Oh no” David breaths

They sit through Bob's poetry, Twyla singing Jolene and some other random people’s songs. Some random teens sing Lizzo and another one reads a shockingly dark poem. Finally it’s Patrick’s turn again and David braces himself for the worse. Gwen follows him onstage and stands in front of the 2nd microphone. “This one’s for my husband” Patrick says and then puts the guitar over his head. David rolls his eyes but then they play the first chords and he sucks in a breath because he recognizes it immediately.

_I call you when I need you, my hearts on fire_

Stevie suddenly grabs his arm. Patrick’s staring at him with the same mixture of earnestness and love as he had at the first open mic. He looks to the left where his daughter is concentrating on playing the right chords. Her cheeks are slightly pink and she looks a little bashful but sure of herself too. David feels his heart clench, tears springing to his eyes.

at _give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams_ David sucks in a sharp breath. He can’t believe Patrick sang this to him so early in their relationship. He considers that maybe he didn’t listen to all the lyrics but that seems unlike him. The idea that he was thinking about a lifetime before they had even said I love you makes something in his stomach flutter.

He’s snapped back to the future when Gwen joins Patrick on the chorus. He knows she doesn’t think she has an exceptionally good voice but it’s good enough to get minor roles in school musicals. He thinks they sound lovely together. Gwen’s voice is quiet but she knows what she’s doing, hitting all the right notes. Their voices blend together and David feels kind of like he’s being draped in a blanket of warmth.

Gwen’s looking at the audience more instead of at the guitar and she catches David’s gaze. She smiles at him and he smiles back in a way that he hopes is encouraging and not as watery as it feels. When they finish he’s pretty sure Patrick is misty eyed too. The audience cheers and he cheers the loudest. Patrick chuckles and pulls Gwen in for a hug. He tousles her hair (which she glares at him about) and then they’re heading towards him.

“Patrick” he says quietly collapsing into his arms

“I can’t believe you” he whispers, straightening up to kiss him once, then twice.

“Did you like it?” Patrick asks shyly

“Did I like it? That’s a dumb question” David scoffs

“I wasn’t expecting to be emotionally assaulted tonight” He admits to which Patrick smiles. Their faces are already pretty close and he closes the distance again to kiss the smile off his face “Sweetie that was so good” he tells Gwen who had finally been released from Sadie.

The last acts wrap up and people start filing out. Once everyone’s out they attempt to clean up the area. Stevie stays for 20 minutes to help them clean up before taking the half empty bottle of wine they used to give people drinks. She hugs both the kids, waves goodbye and leaves. Everything’s only half clean at best but they decide to leave it for later.

“Let’s go,” David says, leaning the broom against the wall. Patrick looks like he wants to argue but doesn’t, throwing away the rest of the plates and grabbing Sadie’s hand. They’re in the car for 10 minutes in peaceful silence when Gwen yells

“SomeBODY once told me” Sadie rolls her eyes but joins anyway. When they get to the chorus Patrick is singing too.

“Ugh can we not?” David questioned

“What you thought they were singing Smash Mouth we have to give you Smash Mouth ” Sadie says innocently. David pretends he’s annoyed but joins them on the 2nd verse

“If you ever tell anyone I know the words to that song I’ll kill you” he says as they pull up to the house


	7. Why you shouldn’t leave your kids alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sadie wants to do something reckless and ropes Gwen into it. 
> 
> It actually goes better than she thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadie: 15  
> Gwen: 13
> 
> I don’t know if this is what anyone waned but here’s some sibling content

Their parents are both out trying to get a deal with a lady who makes candle art. Sadies bored. She wants to do something but she doesn’t know what yet. Lately she’s been itching to change something about herself (she doesn’t know what but she doesn’t think her parents would let her get a nose ring). She's itching to do something a little reckless and now seems as good a time as ever. She thinks about her hair. It’s kind of boring. It’s been the same; long and ordinary since middle school. 

“Gwen?” She calls

“What?” Her sister asks, appearing in the doorway. She's clearly been doing something with makeup because she has pink eyeshadow on one eye.

“I want to do something” Sadie complains

“Ooo can we go get aunt Stevie to take us to get ice cream?” Gwen questions

“No” Sadie says “well maybe in a little” she decides 

“I want to cut my hair,” Sadie says. Gwen looks mildly concerned.

“Like by yourself?” She asks. Sadie debates for a second if she actually wants to do this 

“Yes” She says determinedly 

“Ok but I don’t know how that involves me so..” Gwen says turning around 

“No, you have to help me, I can’t get the back!” Sadie complains “if I try to do it myself it’ll be all uneven”

Gwen considers it, “if you get in trouble for this it’s not my fault ok?” She finally says 

Sadie cheers. She goes to the bathroom and ties her hair in four ponytails to her shoulder. 

“Ok” she says, taking a deep breath and returning to the living room. She goes to the kitchen to find their sharpest scissors and gives them to Gwen.

“Are you sure?” Gwen asks when she’s sitting behind her 

“Ugh...um yes” Sadie decides squeezing her eyes shut

“Ok. Let the record show I tried to stop you” Gwen says to the empty room. There’s a snip and she hands Sadie the first ponytail.

“Oh my gosh oh my gosh!” Sadie exclaims because it’s a lot of hair 

“Well we have to keep going now..” Gwen says followed by the second snip. 

When they’re done Sadie rushes to the nearest mirror. She runs her hand through her hair. She actually really likes it. 

“I look cooler right?” She asks Gwen who's standing behind her 

“Yeah, sure” Gwen says monotonously “I really do like it though” she admits

They hear a key turning in the lock. 

“Shit weren’t they supposed to take longer?” Sadie questions panickedly while Gwen looks like she’s considering running out the back door.

“I think so” she says “are we going to die?” She asks

“No!” Sadie says “maybe..”

Gwen glares at her

“Ok act natural!” Sadie exclaims running past Gwen and jumping onto the sofa.

“Yeah because if we _pretend_ everything’s normal maybe they won’t notice” Gwen says rolling her eyes but sitting on the couch. Sadie picks up a random magazine from the table and flips it open, Gwen picks up the remote. 

“Hey girls we got some candle samples..” Patrick says walking into the doorway. He stops suddenly. They both look up guiltily.

“Hi..” Sadie say casually 

“What-“ he starts and then David appears beside him 

“What did you do?” David exclaims 

“Nothing?” 

“Oh you’ve got some explaining to do!” 

“Ok technically it’s Gwen’s fault!” Sadie exclaims. Gwen makes an indignant noise. 

“It is not! She told me too!” Gwen exclaims “you said you wouldn’t get me in trouble” she says to Sadie

“Why..why would you do that?” Patrick questions sitting next to her on the couch 

“I don’t know I just wanted to do something” Sadie says

“And cutting your hair was _the best_ idea you could come up with?” David questions tugging at a strand 

“Um..”

“Ok sweetie why didn’t you tell us you wanted to get your haircut? We would’ve taken you somewhere” David says 

“I don’t know. It was kind of a sudden thing” she says

“Ok it doesn’t look that bad. But you’re grounded” Patrick says 

“For 2 weeks” David adds

“Ugh Fine” Sadie groans 

“Next time ask” David says “it’s your hair we really don’t care what you do to it”

“But don’t do it yourself” Patrick adds

“It’s like a project” Sadie suggests “like can I be a hairdresser? No. See I checked that one off the list”

“Great” David says “but technically didn’t you check it off Gwen’s list”

“Ok it’s not THAT bad” Gwen defends

“At least it’s not as bad as the time grandpa and G left you alone and aunt alexis burnt down part of the house” Sadie says

“Yeah don’t do anything aunt alexis did ok?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy..wanna give me something prompts? 🥺


	8. Always be my baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes marriage is hard. But it’ll work out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of kids in this one but it’s just a ~small~ break
> 
> This is like angst lite but its not too bad

David knows something’s off. Everything feels weird and he doesn’t know what to do about it. he doesn’t know if the kids are a good enough excuse but that’s the only reason he’s willing to believe. It feels like they’ve gone into a weird alternate dimension or something. 

They’re not talking as much and David doesn’t even know why. Most of the week one of them does kid stuff and one of them is at the store so it's easy to avoid each other. When they’re together at the store there seems like there’s weird tension between them. It’s not angry, it just feels awkward. It feels like before they started dating where they were afraid of doing something to ruin whatever weird balance they had settled into. It’s like they’re scared of each other which doesn’t even make any sense. 

David doesn’t even remember it happening but eventually there was distance between them and they talked less and kissed less and now here they were dancing around each other and only talking when it was necessary. David hates it. He doesn’t know what to do. Maybe they should send the kids somewhere and he can make his husband re-fall in love with him. sometimes he wants to ask Patrick “hey do you still like me?” Just to make sure but he doesn’t also doesn’t want to know the answer.

They don’t joke at all. They don’t tease each other which just makes him sad because that was a pillar of their relationship. David’s been hyping himself up to solve this but as soon as he’s convinced himself to do it Patrick has to go to a business seminar. 

“Bye!” He tells the girls hugging both of them. They both pause, staring at each other, waiting then David closes the distance resting his face on Patrick’s shoulder. Patrick kisses his cheek.   
“Have fun” David says  
“I always do” Patrick says with a small smile 

David does his best to wrangle the girls. They are pretty well behaved except for Sadie’s meltdown about math homework. He’s trying to help, but he’s not great at math either. It’s Saturday and after dinner Sadie begged him to paint her nails so he’s painting them yellow. Sadie keeps moving and it keeps smudging and he’s given up trying to do a good job. Afterwards Gwen tries to paint his nails and gets nail polish over his whole fingertip but he doesn’t wipe it off. 

He puts them to bed and goes to sit on the couch because Patrick’s supposed to be back soon. He twists his rings nervously. He doesn’t want to assault Patrick with this problem as soon as he comes through the door but he doesn’t know how much longer he can keep it inside. 

He doesn’t know when Patrick’s supposed to be back but now he’s worried so he’s not going to be able to sleep. He turned on some random home renovation show and is halfway through it when he hears footsteps on the stairs. He looks up and Gwen is standing there wrapped in a large blanket.

“Gwen?” He questions  
“Dad, can I wait with you?” She asks, hopefully plopping down next to him. David knows he should say no but he thinks he’ll feel better if she’s here.  
“Ok” David says. Gwen smiles and nuzzles into his side. He absentmindedly plays with her hair and by the time the next show starts she’s asleep.

It’s just ending when he hears a lock in the key and a tired looking Patrick walks through the door.   
“Hi” he whispers. Then he catches sight of Gwen, “what's she doing?”  
“She wanted to wait for you” David whispers  
Patrick smiles at that walking over to where she’s lying.   
“Ok” he mutters leaning down to pick her up   
“I’ll take her upstairs” 

David’s staring at the wall when Patrick comes back downstairs. He’s trying to figure out whether he should talk to Patrick now when he turns to face his husband because he can feel him staring at him.   
“What?” He questions and Patrick smiles   
“What’re you doing?” Patrick questions sitting next to him   
“What's wrong with us?” David blurts out and then panickedly turns to look at Patrick for his reaction. Patrick winces and bites his lip, staring at his hands. 

“Something is wrong isn’t it?” He says more to himself then to David   
“It’s been bothering me because I don’t know why it’s happening” Patrick chokes out   
“Like there was no fighting I just- I don’t know” David grabs his hand and he looks at him, teary eyed 

“I know. That’s what’s been bothering me too” David says quietly  
“Everything just felt weird”   
“Yeah” Patrick says softly   
“I’m sorry we haven’t been talking” Patrick finally says   
“Me too” David says leaning his head on Patrick shoulder 

“I love you” patrick says softly   
“I love you too” David says, turning to face him, eyes watery. They stare at each other for a second and then David closes the gap kissing him softly and then grabbing his face to kiss him with more determination. He pulls away and Patrick’s head falls on his shoulder.   
“We can’t put us on the back burner” David says quietly rubbing Patrick’s arms. He feels Patrick nod.

“I’m sorry” Patrick says, staring at him with big eyes   
“I'm sorry too,” David says. He rolls his eyes, “ok can we stop apologizing and make out more?” He asks hopefully   
Patrick chuckles and leans in again.


	9. Another Thespian in the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen gets cast in the school play and Johnny and Moira come to see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gwen: 10  
> Sadie: 12

Gwen got cast in the school play when she was in 5th grade. It was The Little Mermaid and she was one of Ariel’s sisters and Sebastian. Moira was more excited about it than anyone.   
“another thespian in the family,” She said excitedly which Patrick pouted about. 

Moira and Johnny could come to the play because it was around Thanksgiving and they were coming to visit anyway.   
“I hope she’s nice,” David says one night “and she doesn’t ruin all her hope”   
“I don’t think she’s going to say something mean,” Patrick says  
“She’s critical though,” David says worriedly “at my first gallery she told me half the pictures look like they should be in hotel rooms,” he says   
“Maybe she’ll be nicer because it’s Gwen,” Patrick says hopefully although he’s not that convinced.

It’s true that Moira’s nicer with their kids than she is with other kids. David hopes she’ll be nice because there’s only so good a 5th-grade play can be. They’re making up the guest bedroom because his parents are supposed to be here in an hour. They had just figured out the fitted bed sheet when the doorbell rang. 

“Dad it's grandpa and G” Sadie called (Moira had refused to be called a grandmother)  
“What the fuck” David mutters “they’re an hour early” Patrick shrugs and they make their way to the hallway   
“Hi,” David says with fake enthusiasm, going to hug his dad, “how are you here so early?” 

“Did we not tell you we got an earlier flight because the other one was overbooked?” His mom questioned   
“No, you did not,” David says   
Patrick hugs Moira and then Johnny and they both hug Sadie and Gwen.  
“There she is,” Moira says “we’re so excited to see your play dear”  
Gwen is beaming “yay!” She says “I just got my crab costume, do you want to see it?” She asks  
“Yes I would love to see your crustacean getup,” Moira says and follows Gwen upstairs.

“How’s 7th grade?” Johnny questions when they’re all on the couch   
“It’s good,” Sadie says  
“Sayds do you want to show him your pictures?” Patrick asks  
“What pictures?” Johnny questions as Sadie blushes and protests that they’re “not that good”   
“They are good” David defends “she’s taking photography at school,” he says   
“We may be biassed but she’s honestly pretty good,” Patrick says and Sadie blushes.

Johnny flips through the pictures. The first one is the sun shining through the forest. The second is of a girl standing against a tree the shadows flitting across her face.   
“It was a partner project” Sadie explains   
There’s a picture of Gwen and Patrick trying to make pancakes and one of David lifting Gwen up to put a bottle on the top shelf. There’s a picture of Sadie laughing on a bridge that her partner took of her, and one of her spinning around in the woods.  
“These are good” Johnny says honestly   
“Thanks,” Sadie says blushing again  
•••  
It’s the day of the play and Gwen is jumping up and down.  
“Are you nervous?” David questions  
“No,” Gwen says “yes...I don’t know”  
“You’re gonna do great. You’ve been practicing so much” Patrick says 

They’re sitting in the auditorium in a row. David’s sitting with Patrick on one side and Moira on the other and he keeps glancing at her worriedly.  
“I just don’t want her to ruin her dreams” David explains  
Patrick grabs his hand, “she’s not going to ruin her dreams” Patrick reassures him. The play starts. The girl who plays Ariel is ok at acting but her singing is definitely off-key. Mora is flinching next to them and Sadie looks a little like she’s in pain. 

Gwen seems nervous when she’s first onstage but by the time she comes on as Sebastian, she seems more comfortable. David might be biassed but Gwen is honestly pretty funny. He thinks he knows what bad acting is and she’s pretty good. The audience seems to be enjoying themselves. They’re laughing in the right places and he has to say her rendition of ‘Under the Sea’ is better than the Ariel girls singing. 

The play ends and he can’t stop smiling. Their whole family is beaming but Patrick and Moira look the proudest. The cast comes on stage and bow. Gwen has her crab hat off and is beaming. She blushes when her family (and a couple of other random audience members) stand up to cheer for her. They go into the lobby to wait for Gwen. 

When Gwen walks into the lobby they all cheer.  
“That was so good!” Patrick exclaims pulling her into a hug   
“It really was” Johnny adds  
“Yeah!” Sadie says  
“It was really good” David adds  
“What a shining celebutante,” Moira says. On the way out Moira says quietly, “you were much better than the main girl” Gwen blushes, and the parents next to them glare at Moira. He’s pretty sure they’re the girl who played Ariel’s parents.

The day before they’re supposed to leave Moira goes into her younger granddaughter’s room. She really was impressed with her. She wouldn’t pretend she was and she wanted to give her something to encourage her to keep acting.   
“Hi,” Moira says and Gwen looks up from the magazine she’s reading   
“Hi!” She says. She seems confused as to why she’s here  
“I have something for you,” Moira says sitting on the bed “I have something for your sister too but I have something extra for you” she explains, handing Gwen a pouch 

“This is the same one I’m giving your sister,” Moira says as Gwen opens the pouch. She pulls out a necklace with a little rose pendant. Gwen is a little shocked.  
“Thank you,” she says softly  
“You're welcome. Ok, are you ready for the other part?” She questions. She looks a little nervous as she hands Gwen a ring. Gwen studies it. It’s silver and simple except for some little swirls engraved on it and a couple of blue stones scattered around the swirls. 

And then she recognizes it.   
“Is this the ring the fisherman gives you in Sunrise Bay before he leaves for Alaska?” She questions. Her parents had let her watch the first season of Sunrise Bay because it was the “most tame season”.   
“Yes!” Moira exclaims delighted that she recognized it “I want you to have it because I think you have promise and I hope you keep acting. And you should because it seems to make you happy” she says   
“It does” Gwen says twisting the ring in her fingers “Thank you this is so cool,” she says hugging Moira tightly   
“You’re welcome sweetie,” Moira says 

Later that ring would become something of a good luck charm. She would wear it every time she auditioned, and she was wearing it when she got the lead in the play senior year.


	10. There for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen's having a hard time. David notices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gwen my sweet bby :((

Gwen’s normally the happiest, bubbliest person in their family. She talks A LOT about her day and really anything and actually laughs at Ted's jokes.

She normally talks endlessly through dinner about everything that happened at school but recently it seems like there’s been a shift. She’s quieter, barely talking to them at all. David doesn’t know if Patrick’s picked up on it but he thinks somethings definitely odd. 

It’s Wednesday and he’s working at the store. Both the girls normally come to the store after school and do homework in the back. Sadie walks in with Gwen trailing behind her. Gwen drops her bag at the counter and goes to the back without a word. David stares after her because normally they have to force her to stop talking to do her homework. And she also normally begs him to let her work the cash register for several minutes. He makes eye contact with Sadie who just shrugs.

“What’s with her?” He questions 

“I don’t know,” Sadie says, worrying her bottom lip “she’s been like this since Wednesday ''

It seems no one’s coming so he goes to the back. 

“Hey,” he says. Gwen’s staring at the table 

“Hi,” she says 

“Is everything okay?” He questions

“Yeah,” she says unconvincingly 

“Did anything exciting happen at school?” He prompts

“No” 

He furrows his eyebrows 

“Do you want to come work the register?” He questions. She sighs 

“no, it’s okay I have math homework,” she says brushing past him to go get her bag. 

That night at dinner Gwen’s still oddly quiet. She ignores all his questions so he takes to trying to badger Sadie about her day. She answers his questions half-heartedly but everything still feels weird. When Gwen goes to shower David corners, Patrick. 

“She’s being weird right?” He questions

“I don’t know. She’s definitely quieter” Patrick muses 

“But that’s weird right?” He presses

Patrick shrugs, “yeah I guess” he agrees 

That night it’s David’s turn to put her to bed. He tucks her in and sits on the edge of the bed.

“Are you okay?” He asks quietly 

Gwen hesitates for a second before shaking her head.

“What's wrong?” He asks moving up the bed to sit next to her 

“Some kid at school was being mean,” she says

“How were they being mean?” David questions 

“Um this boy said my parents abandoned me because they didn’t love me and then my new parents got stuck with me-“ her voice cuts

off at the end as she gulps and David bristles 

“He  _ said  _ that to you?” He questions trying to restrain himself from punching something. Gwen nods and then looks up at him with tears in her eyes.

“Well, actually  _ his  _ parents got stuck with him” David defends wanting to sass this eight-year-old to his face. 

“We picked you. And it was a really great decision. The best one. I love you so much ok?” David felt tears welling up in his eyes against his will

“I know,” Gwen says leaning into him “I love you,” she says

He kisses the top of her head, “sometimes kids are just mean” he says “I was bullied a lot in school too” he admits which doesn’t shock that many people but Gwen looks surprised. 

“Why were people mean to you dad?” She questions. David shrugs, “probably because I was a little weird,” he says “but those people are just weak. They normally just want to make people feel bad and you’re very brave for putting up with it. If he bothers you again please tell me alright?” He says she nods. “Ok,” he says, tucking her back in and leaving her room. 

“Goodnight,” he says 

“Night” Gwen says 

David goes into their bedroom and sinks into their bed. He hears Patrick still in the shower. The shower turns off and Patrick appears looking soft, a towel tied around his waist. 

“Hi,” Patrick says, kissing his cheek and sitting on the other side of the bed. He paused when he caught sight of David’s face.

“Are you ok?” He asks softly 

David shakes his head tears welling in his eyes 

“What's wrong?” Patrick questions moving to his side. David wipes his eyes.

“Um no. No, it’s just...some kid said some really mean things to Gwen” Patrick looks even more concerned 

“What'd they say?” He asks 

“Um he said her parents abandoned her because they didn’t love her and then we got stuck with her” his husband bristled

“Some kid SAID that?!” He exclaims “that’s awful! What the fuck is wrong with kids? Should we like tell a teacher? Can Gwen beat him up? Can I beat him up? Would I go to jail for that..?” 

“Ok, babe you’re  _ not  _ going to beat up an 8-year-old ok?” David asks, patting his arm. Patrick deflates slightly.

“We can tell a teacher though, I told her to tell us if it happens again,” David says. Patrick nods 

“I said we love her,” he says leaning into his husband 

“Good,” Patrick says leaning in to kiss his head 

“I can’t believe that. That's Awful” he mutters 

“I know,” David says reaching for his hand

That night David can’t stop thinking. He never thought he would have kids but when he held Sadie for the first time he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. He thought about how he felt in middle school.  **He** was bullied for being different and it made him lonely and ashamed of himself. And he decides he’s not going to let that happen to Gwen.

Patrick wakes up to clicking and is momentarily confused. He opens his eyes and it’s dark out which makes him even more confused. He rolls over to ask David what’s happening and is met with an empty bed. He sits up even more confused and there’s his husband sitting at their desk, on the computer, typing away. 

“David-“ he starts and David jolts like he forgot he was here 

“Hi..sorry,” David says 

“What are you doing?” Patrick asks getting out of bed and walking to the desk

“Um I couldn’t stop thinking so...I’m writing an email to Gwen’s teacher” he said looking slightly embarrassed 

“It’s 3:20 in the morning,” Patrick points out. David rolls his eyes, “I KNOW I’m not going to send it now” he explains wringing his hands “I was just...writing it now” 

“Can you finish it in the morning?” Patrick asks because sometimes he has to finish the things he’s worried about to be able to sleep. 

“Probably Because I don’t even know the kid’s name” David admits “I just- I want him to be held responsible you know? I don’t want her school experience to be like mine” 

Patrick puts his hand on David’s shoulder, “it won’t be” he says and he believes it “you’re making sure it won’t be”

Eventually, Patrick manages to get a reluctant David back to bed. He wraps his arms around him, putting his head on David’s shoulder. He just holds on tight and whispers how it’s going to be ok until he feels David’s body relax. Their kids are lucky, he decides. He’s sure he cares too but they’re lucky to have David who cares SO much. 


	11. Sadie and Gwen’s PowerPoint of why we should get a dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It opens to a PowerPoint which reads: Sadie and Gwen’s PowerPoint of Why We Should Get a Dog in pink loopy letters.  
> “Nope” David exclaims standing back up “we’re not getting a dog”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long for me because I have no motivation but anyway, here you go!!
> 
> Also I want a dog can u tell?
> 
> Sadie-9  
> Gwen-6

It’s a Thursday night and David and Patrick are watching some baking competition show. “Don’t use fondant you fucking idiot” David mutters under his breath and Patrick chuckles. It’s quieter than normal and they would like to believe the girls are doing their homework like they’re supposed to, but when it’s this quiet it usually means they’re scheming. The shows just gone to a break before they announce the winner when Sadie walks in with Gwen trailing behind her. They’re trying very hard to look innocent and Patrick’s immediately suspicious. “We have a presentation for you,” Sadie declares flopping onto the couch. Patrick looks up skeptically.  
“A presentation?” he questions and the girls nod. He glances at David who’s staring at the tv waiting for them to declare the winner. They announce the lady who won and David groans, “what! She was worse than Bethany!” He exclaims then seems to notice Sadie standing there.   
“What? Whats happening?” he questions looking from his husband to his daughter “They have a presentation” Patrick informs him. They look at each other suspiciously. “Ok..” David sighs standing up. They follow their excited children upstairs.   
“Ok” Gwen says, turning on the computer. It opens to a PowerPoint which reads: Sadie and Gwen’s PowerPoint of Why We Should Get a Dog in pink loopy letters.  
“Nope” David exclaims standing back up “we’re not getting a dog”  
Sadie’s pouting, “can you just watch the PowerPoint? It took a long time” 

David nods and reluctantly sits back down. It looks like they did do a lot of research for this. They have slides about the health benefits of pets, how it’ll give them responsibility and make them go outside. At the end they had pictures of dogs from the local shelter which may have softened David a little. He catches Patrick’s gaze, “we’ll talk about it” he decides, slightly defeated. The girls squeal and run downstairs.  
“I thought we weren’t getting a dog” Patrick mutters, smiling.  
David sighs “I’m open to the idea” He says, rolling his eyes and shoving Patrick to wipe the smug look off his face. 

They go to the SPCA a week later.  
“This doesn’t mean we’re getting a dog. We’re just looking” David reminds them more than once in the car. The girls don’t seem to care, happy to see the dogs. Sadie skips to the door. The lady at the front tells them they can look at the cages but can only pet them if they want to go forward with the process. The dogs are all so excited when they walk in the room that David momentarily wants to take them all.

Sadie runs up to a brown fluffy dog and it jumps onto the cage barking at her.  
“Hi dog..hi” she says trying to pet him through the cage. Gwen seems a little more scared of the loud noises and is standing close to David’s leg.  
“Do you want to go see one?” He questions  
“Ok” Gwen says. He grabs her hand and leads her over to one of the quieter, smaller, dogs. 

“See? This one seems nice, right?” He asks, bending down to the dog's level. The dog is black and white and Gwen peels herself away from him a little.  
“Hi,” she says quietly, putting her hand on the cage. The dog comes up and touches her hand with its nose and it must tickle because she jolts away.  
“It tickles” she says  
“Yeah?” David questions “want to go see this one?” They go over to where Patrick and Sadie are. A dog that looks vaguely like a German Shepard is jumping on the side of the cage. He seems friendly but David doesn’t know how he feels about the jumping. 

Next there’s a smallish golden retriever who looks at them, tail wagging.  
“Aw!” Sadie exclaims running towards the cage. The dog comes towards her and licks her hand and she giggles.  
“Gwen! Come here!” She exclaims going to drag her sister towards the cage. Gwen seems a little tentative walking towards the cage slowly. She puts her hand out and the dog comes towards her and boops her hand with its nose. That seems to make her feel better and she reaches her hand through the cage to pet its head. 

“That’s a cute dog” David admits leaning his head on Patrick’s shoulder  
“her name’s Winnie, she’s 3” Patrick reads off the cage. He looks at David with slightly pleading eyes and he knows they’re going to have a conversation about this later. 

“So are we getting a dog?” Patrick questions that night. David considers it.  
“I don’t know. Let’s go meet one and see how that goes” he says  
“Ok David,” Patrick says smiling. He smiles back. 

They go back to the SPCA and tell the lady at the front desk they’re interested in Winnie. She goes and brings Winnie to a smaller room, and then tells them to follow her. Sadie runs towards Winnie as soon as they get in the room and Winnie seems equally as excited. She flops onto the floor and Winnie jumps on her.  
“Come here!” She exclaims beckoning Gwen over. Gwen seems hesitant but comes over smiling.

“Hi” she tells Winnie, petting her on the nose. Winnie seems content and flops over towards her. Patrick sits down next to Gwen reaching a hand to Winnie.  
“She’s cute right?” He questions looking from Gwen to David.  
“Yes,” David admits. He reaches a hand towards her and pets her on the head.  
“Hi,” he says softly. Winnie seems happy, she walks over to David and plops on his lap contentedly.  
“Ok yep get dog hair on my pants that’s...fine” David says scratching her head. He can’t really be mad because she looks at him with huge puppy eyes.

“Dad she likes you!” Sadie exclaims sitting down next to him.  
“Are we getting a dog?” Patrick whispers, his head on David shoulder  
David sighs, “yes, we’re getting a dog”  
The girls squeal.

Two days later there’s a dog in their house. David’s just glad she’s not chewing stuff up because he thinks that would be a dealbreaker. The girls are very excited still. They watch her run around their admittedly small yard, they run around the neighborhood with her. Patrick takes her hiking and she sleeps in Gwen’s bed. The girls aren’t thrilled with the poop situation but they’ve gotten used to it and don’t seem to mind if picking up poop means they get a dog.


	12. I love you a latke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David doesn’t want his kids to kiss out on judaism so they celebrate Chanukah for the first time. 
> 
> Sadie- 9  
> Gwen- 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this really fast but it’s still Hanukkah so ha. 
> 
> Ignore any mistakes I read through it like once.

David was never really  _ into  _ Judaism. Ok that’s not true. Once he starts thinking about it he realizes he actually did like Jewish stuff when he was little, probably until 8th grade when he decided to go emo. The more he thinks about it the more he doesn’t want to deprive his kids of the experience. Like maybe they’ll decide they really like Judaism when they’re twenty and wonder why they never did that stuff before.

It’s almost december and he’s thinking about trying to do Chanukah because that’s at least an easy holiday to start with. He’s dreading bringing it up because he thinks that idea is going to be met with a lot of questions that he doesn’t really know the answer to. It’s a rare day where they’re both at the store and it’s busy because it’s near Christmas. David is pulling uncomfortable faces like he knows he does when he’s anxious. Patrick’s had to check out person after person with no break so he doesn’t think he’s noticed. 

The rush is slowing down because it’s close to lunchtime and Patrick leans against the counter in what he probably thinks is a casual way. 

“What's up?” He questions and David starts to object before thinking better of it.

“It’s just- well I’ve been thinking and I kind of want to do some Jewish thing and like I know it hasn’t been important to me before but I don’t want to like  _ deprive  _ our kids” he trails off looking up for Patrick’s reaction. He looks fond.

“Ok” Patrick says

“Ok?” 

“Yeah I have no problem “doing Jewish things”” he says with air quotes, smiling. His fingers are twitching and David knows he’s itching to research everything about Judaism. 

“I’m fact I  _ have  _ been doing  _ someone _ Jewish for eight years so we’re almost there” he says smirking

“Ok” David says, biting his lip to keep from smiling and then walking over to shove his husband.

It’s not a hard shove and Patrick catches his hand and pulls David back towards him leaning in to kiss him. They don’t notice the bell ring until they hear a very Stevie-like “ugh” and the door closing again.

It’s two nights before Chanukah when David brings it up. He tears his gaze away from Gwen eating pasta (as entertaining as that is) and puts his fork down.

“Guess what?” He questions 

“What?” Gwen asks a noodle hanging out of her mouth 

“We’re going to do Chanukah” he says 

“Why?” Sadie asks, looking skeptical 

“Because you’re half Jewish” David says 

“What do you do?” Gwen asks followed by an excited “does that mean we get double presents?” 

“There are some presents, yeah” David says and then they’re both on board (because he knows how to play kids). 

“What's the point of Chanukah?” Sadie asks 

“It’s about a mean guy who didn’t Iike Jews and wouldn’t let them pray so they ruined the temple and there was a lamp and they only had enough oil to light the lamp for one day but it stayed lit for eight days” Patrick says and david smiles because if there’s one thing his husband can do it’s research.

*

The first night David goes diving through their storage to find the menorah he’s pretty sure his dad left here. He finds the menorah, some dreidels and some sad looking candles. 

“I found it!” He announces to his family sitting at the kitchen table.

“Ok this is the shemash that you use to light all the other candles and it goes...here” he says putting it in. He puts in one more candle and gets the matches. He asks Sadie if she wants to light it because he’s worried Gwen will hurt herself which makes her pout.

“You can do it with me tomorrow” Patrick promises

David says the prayer (he had to look it up) and everyone goes back to eating except for him and Gwen who are sitting there watching the candles. David’s thinking about how this used to make him happy when he was a kid and how he  _ definitely _ found with Alexis over who got to light the candles. 

“It’s pretty right?” He questions leaning towards Gwen. Gwen nods and he scoops her up and puts her on his lap while they watch the candles melt to stubs.

On the fourth day they try to teach the girls how to play dreidel. Patrick is shockingly good at spinning the top. 

“Ok that’s gimmel that means you put one in?” Patrick guesses 

David shakes his head, “that means you get them all” he says pushing the skittles they’re playing with towards Patrick. 

On the last day Patrick tries to make latkes. Stevie ends up agreeing to go to their house that night once she hears there’s going to be fried food. 

“Hi” she says walking through the door. “I brought wine” she says handing the wine to David “actually it’s your wine but at least I paid for it this time” she says before she notices Sadie 

“There’s my girl” she says picking her up 

“Hi aunt Stevie” Sadie says 

“What about me?” Gwen, who just got downstairs questions 

“my other girl!” She exclaims setting Sadie down and picking up Gwen. David’s never seen Stevie be as nice to someone as she is with their kids but he doesn’t bring it up because the last time she said if he mentioned it again she would kill him. 

“How are you? Killing kindergarten?” She asks

Gwen nods “my artworks on the classroom wall” she declares 

“Yes!” Stevie says, giving her a high five. She sets Gwen down and looks back towards david.

“Where’s this food?” She questions. She follows David to the other room where Patrick’s at the stove wearing a flowery apron. 

“Who’s is that?” Stevie questions at the same time he says “want to try the first one?” He scoops up the first one and slides it towards stevie.

She takes a bite and tries to hide her reaction because this is...not good. 

“Mhph” 

“What?” Patrick says, the smile dropping off his face.

“Nothing” Stevie chokes out swallowing the rest of the latke. David tries the next one and doesn’t manage to hide his reaction. 

“Ugh um..I love you but this is...not good” he says putting the other half down. Patrick frowns and David steps into action. 

“It’s ok,” he says, dropping a kiss to his cheek and taking the spatula from him.

Patrick and Stevie go to the living room where the girls (and Patrick) try to teach Stevie how to play dreidel. Stevie ends up sucking and Gwen wins. David comes in with latkes and joins them on the floor. Stevie takes one and hums, “ok that’s good!” She admits 

Patrick takes a bite out of one letting out a fairly pg-13 moan. His ears turn red when he notices David staring at him. They go to the table to light the menorah. David gives Stevie a flannel and she punches him in the arm (and then he gives her mr. hockley’s “tea” which makes up for it). David watches his favorite people arguing about dreidel and feels happier than he’s felt in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the Jews

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at mysticsomewhere
> 
> also open to prompts :)


End file.
